Burned too Deep
by ForeverWovenStars
Summary: Sirius Black has always been a mysterious character. When Sirius meets a mysterious girl, nothing is quite what it used to be. And anyway, there must have been another reason he ran away from home...Was there not?
1. Chapter 1

**Burned too Deep**

**Chapter One**

The sun was shining bright, quite unusually for a September morning. It was September 1st 1975 and Sirius Black was awakened to the sound of his house elf, Kreature, breathing heavily right next to his ear.

"Merlin, Kreature!" Sirius barked from under his pillow, jumping at the sight of the ugly, dirty elf next to him. He rolled out of bed (which was hardly a victory as his old bed almost bent to the floor anyway) and stretched tall, fingertips brushing the top of the ceiling and his feet almost sinking into the sagging carpet floor. He grunted, running his finger through his hair, a habit he had picked up from his best friend, James Potter, who had described it as a tactic to 'drive the girls wild'. Sirius smiled at the memory, shaking out his hair into its normal parting.

"Master, my Mistress has been calling for you." Kreature grimaced as he addressed Sirius, something he had taken to doing ever since Sirius' first year at Hogwarts. Sirius didn't know why, but he suspected it was to do with the fact he had been sorted into Gryffindor, not Slytherin.

"I heard her. I'm coming." Sirius muttered his voice croaky. With a snap Kreature had vanished from the room, apparating into thin air. Sirius muttered under his breath a series of profanities, sauntering over to his chest of drawers and pulling out anything to wear. His Hogwarts trunk was thrown open at the side, and he hastily began throwing last minutes items into it that he would need. His room was almost empty once he was done, apart from the torn posters and rumpled bedspread and battered furniture it needed to look homely.

Giving his bedroom a final once over, he nodded and slammed his trunk shut, grabbing it by the sides to throw it downstairs. He only had about one more year left until he could use magic outside of school, and as he heaved his trunk along the corridor, bashing it into walls, he decided: he couldn't fucking wait.

Sirius clunked into the kitchen after his brother, and grabbed a seat next to the open hearth fire. A meal of cold porridge and sugar was set in front of him and he wolfed it down greedily, barely tasting the vile food he was so hungry and so desperate to leave.

It had been a long and boring summer. James had been away with his wealthy parents for most of it to a hot island somewhere far, far away from Sirius. Lupin had been recovering from his 'monthly happenings' as he still wasn't used to it, and had barred practically everyone from seeing him in a state of not-near-perfectness and calmness. Peter, Sirius hadn't heard from him all summer, not that Sirius minded. Peter wasn't someone he considered his 'friend', but he was sometimes fun to have around, especially for lookout when the gang were up to mischief. And apart from them three, who else was there to go around with? He had no muggle friends, and hadn't even before he had attended Hogwarts, it had simply been frowned upon by his mother all his miserable childhood. To be honest, the only people Sirius had seen this summer had been the girls he had gotten with on rare and random nights out when boredom got too much. He was happy to be going back to Hogwarts.

Lost in his own thoughts, Sirius was brought back to Earth when he mother began addressing him. "Have you packed everything, Sirius?"

"Yes, of course." He answered mutely, not lifting his eyes to look at her.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you." Dutifully, Sirius raised his eyes to his mother. She was an extremely slim, scathing woman, with crow-black hair tied in a bird's nest on top of her head. Her eyes were piercing and a deep green, set far back into her gaunt white face. She wasn't smiling; she never smiled.

"I won't be taking you to the station. Kreature will be, I have work to do."

"I assumed that would be the case, as it is _every _year." Sirius drawled, eyes not blinking as they stared at her. A sudden slap spun through the air at him and he was sure he felt the force of it before it actually hit him.

"Don't you _dare _talk back to me." his mother hissed, her hand still hovering inches from his face. Sirius said nothing, and instead kept his gaze solidly on her. His eyes showed no fear, but his pulse rate had increased. Another slap reined in from the other side, her long nails scratching down his cheek on his right side. Unintentially, Sirius twitched, and Walburga smiled. The sign that he had given in. That's what made her stop. Sirius never usually let it happen.

"Regulus, make sure Sirius behaves."

"Yes, mother." Regulus nodded and his mother swept from the room, dragging coldness out with her.

Regulus smiled at Sirius. Unusually, they had a quite strong brotherhood, despite the amount of affection their mother only rained down on one of them. Sirius chuckled and rubbed a gruff hand on the cheek that the nails had bit in to. Small amounts of blood dotted his skin, and he rubbed it absentmindedly, ignoring the sharp sting of pain.

"Kreature," Regulus demanded, "Fix Sirius' face, will you?"

Kreature limped over hesitantly, glaring in the direction of Sirius, but making his way there all the same. "It would take an unlawful amount of magic to fix his face, Master." Kreature hissed under his breath and Regulus laughed, but Sirius did not see the funny side to the disgusting house elf.

"Why doesn't he listen to me?" Sirius asked as Kreature cleaned up his face, the pain immediately disappearing.

"I wouldn't know. But I would bet my right ear it had something to do with your house and your muggle-born friends, though." Sirius grunted in response. Seemed simple enough to piss of his mother.

Regulus stood up and checked the clock in the kitchen. Ten to eleven on the first of September: they were going to be late if they didn't hurry. "Come on." Regulus prompted, snapping his fingers at Kreature, who quickly bowed and fled the room to retrieve the brothers' belongings. "Did you remember to collect your uniform?" Regulus asked, scrutinising Sirius' mismatching jeans and shirt effect. "Of course." Sirius scoffed, "what are you, my mother?"

"You better bloody hope not." Regulus smirked back.

"All set, Master." Kreature returned, empty handed but red faced. He reached out his hand to both Sirius and Regulus, offering them both to take it.

"Ready?" Regulus asked, taking a hold on Kreature's hand and watching Sirius do the same.

Ready? Sirius had been ready from the moment the summer had begun. He nodded, and took Kreature's hand too. There was a click, and the kitchen vanished in a haze of dizziness and confusion.

They ended up in a broom cupboard.

"Always in a fucking broom cupboard!" Sirius yelled as his foot was plunged into a bucket of cold soapy water. "Always! Can you not think to take up anywhere else? A toilet cubicle maybe? A wheelie bin? Anywhere would be better than this fucking broom cupboard – AGAIN."

"Kreature is sorry, Master." Kreature didn't look sorry. He looked like he was trying to hide a smirk. With his foot still stuck, Sirius wrapped his hand around Kreature's neck and held him up against the wall, squeezing his finger and thumb softly. "Kreature said he was sorry Master, so very sorry…"

"You will be sorry if you don't say that with some meaning!"

"Sirius." Regulus' voice cut through his anger, "we need to hurry. The train will be leaving soon."

Glowering, Sirius dropped Kreature. The house elf sniggered and disappeared once more. Clutching their suitcases, which Kreature had dropped off separately, Regulus opened the cupboard door onto the bustling station of King's Cross. They grabbed a trolley each on threw their belongings onto it, glancing quickly at the large clock. Five minutes to go. They were miles away from Platform 9 and 10, so they would have to run if they were going to make it on time.

Sirius charged ahead, Regulus following, and for the first time, Sirius felt like the older brother. "Come on!" He yelled behind him, swerving through agitated conductors and muggles. He ran over a few feet, but he go to the platform on time. "You go first," Regulus said, and Sirius didn't need to be told twice. He was _dying _to see his friends again. Looking to both sides and seeing nobody suspicious, he charged into Platform 9's seemingly solid brick wall, emerging on the other side to a more noisy and crowded scene. Not bothering to check his brother made it through safely, Sirius stored his bags and climbed aboard the train, pushing past people to make his way to the Marauder's usual compartment.

James and Lupin were already there, casually chatting and kicking back. They smiled when they saw him, and James opened his arms in a hugging gesture. "Padfoot, I've missed you." He said, slapping Sirius on the back and shoving him down on the seat opposite. "Now, back to business." James smiled wryly. "Did you see what Lily was wearing? My god…"

"She's wearing denim shorts and a white vest top with flat ballet shoes. Nothing to get too excited over." Lupin whispered to Sirius, a smirk on his face. They all knew that James had a soft spot for Lily – if it was a _soft _spot at all. That seemed like the exact opposite of words that the gang would call James' affection for her.

"It's beautiful. _She's _beautiful. And those long, long legs…"

"Where's Wormtail?" Sirius asked, leaving James to ponder Lily's legs.

"Not a clue. Probably somewhere on the train right now." Lupin answered.

."Well he must be here. The train's leaving."

Suddenly, the compartment door opened and all three boys turned to it at once, Peter was there. Peter: a short, rotund boy with a mousy face and sticky-out ears shrunk against the door, eyes blinking madly. James was the first to address him, "sit down, Wormtail, you're making me nervous. We were discussing Lily's legs."

"I think you were the only one discussing Lily's legs, Prongs."

"Sorry, _who's_ discussing my legs?" all four boy's heads whipped round to where Peter had been standing moments ago, where now a medium-sized redhead was standing, arms crossed over her flattering white vest top, which was indeed, beautiful to look at.

"Take one guess, Evans." Sirius grinned at her, taking in the view. Sure, she belonged to James, but it couldn't be bad if he just admired the view of his best friend's love of his life. And yes, those shorts did make her legs look oh so long.

Lily's eyes slowly trailed back to James, who was smiling lazily at her, acting cool, even though the other boys could tell that his heart was pounding a thousand times a second with her in his presence. "Stop talking about my legs, Potter, or you'll be without your eyes."

"That is a risk I am willing to take."

Lily sighed, turning to address Lupin instead, the only one of the bunch that didn't constantly infuriate her. "Do you mind if I and Severus sit in here, there's nowhere else?"

Immediately this was greeted with laughter from Sirius and James. "Snivellous? Sure he can sit with us." James took out his wand and began polishing it with the end of his t-shirt, eyes looking wicked.

"On second thoughts…" Lily left quickly, shaking her head to the boy outside. Severus.

"What the fuck does she see in him?" James asked the boys angrily, shoving his wand deep into the side of the train seat. Peter squeaked and moved a little further away from him, worried about being the person James took his anger out on.

"They're just friends," Lupin informed him calmly, raising his eyebrows over his tired-looking eyes, "she had no time for having a boyfriend, just becoming prefect and all."

"This is exactly why we should be together!"

"How does that even make sense?"

They continued to bicker whilst Sirius had turned his attention to the girl who had slid open to compartment door and was gazing in at them confidently. "Excuse me," she said with a slightly French accent, "do you mind if I sit in here, just everywhere else is full."

"Go right ahead." Sirius nodded, not taking his eyes off her. "They're too busy arguing to notice anyway. And he can't talk to girls." He said, pointing at Peter, who had shrunk closer to James now the girl had taken a seat next to him. Sirius wanted to laugh. Obviously, Peter was never going to get laid. "I'm Sirius. The nervous one who's sitting next to you is Peter, and the one with specs is called James. Then there's Remus." Lupin and James were still engaged in their discussion of Lily.

"Well, hello, I'm Elizabeth." The girl spoke slowly; the only word without an accent was her name.

"Elizabeth… That's a very English name." Sirius paused and raised his eyebrows, "seeing as you're French."

To this, Elizabeth raised her eyebrows back. "How do you know I am French?"

"The accent?"

"That would make sense. However, as I was born in England and moved to France before I knew how to speak, that would make me English. With an English name."

Sirius was at a loss for words, literally. This must have been the first time he couldn't think of a comeback. "…Fair enough then."

"Yes, it should be." She turned her head away from his, brushing her auburn hair around her shoulders. She didn't look French either. Probably because she wasn't French.

Her skin was ghostly pale as any English girl, but her glowered with a sort of life to it. Her auburn hair was in smooth waves down her back, but barely coming past her shoulder blades. She had a thick full fringe that brushed her eyelashes when she looked up. Her eyelashes matched her hair, and that made Sirius smile. It's something he'd never noticed before. Do people's eyelashes match their hair colour, or was it just her? He thought that James, Lupin or Peter would get pretty freaked if he just started intensely staring at their eyes right now though, so he thought it best to wait.

'Elizabeth' didn't suit her at all. Whoever came up with it must not have even looked at her when she was born. Her personality didn't seem like the sort of snobby bitches called Elizabeth that Sirius was used to meeting. No, she seemed way more sarcastic, alive, and _darker _than the name Elizabeth could grace.

"You know what?" Sirius whispered to her and she turned her head around slowly, her eyes narrowing.

"What?" she answered, drawling her words out. She seemed sick of him already.

"I'm going to call you Effy." With a smile, Sirius sat back in his chair and closed his eyes, thrusting his hands behind his head in arrogance.

Elizabeth sniffed, "what kind of weird name is that?"

Lazily, Sirius opened one eye to stare at her. "A kind of weird name like Sirius."

Effy surprised Sirius by giggling, "That's not a weird name," she murmured, "There's worse."

"Obviously, you haven't heard my mother's choice in names."

She giggled again, turning again, away from Sirius to look out the window. "How long until we get there?"

"A long time," Sirius answered, bemused at the fact that neither Lupin nor James had noticed there was a girl in here with them, too preoccupied from their squabbling. Peter had fallen asleep with his head hitting the compartment door every time the train moved. It seemed like a good idea. "And if you don't mind, I'm going to sleep, I've been up late every day this summer and I don't like to break a habit just because the summers ended." He barked a laugh just to show he was joking, and closed his eyes again, letting the insistent chatter of his friends lull him to sleep.

**R&R and I might do the same for you.**

**Suggestions, critiques, anything? **


	2. Chapter 2

**Burned Too Deep**

**September 1****st**** 1975**

The train shuddered to a stop and Sirius opened his eyes, straining them against the weak sunlight leaking through the glass window. Opposite him, James was snoring very loudly, his head lulling against the top of the chair and chocolate frog wrappers littered around his arse. Remus had his head buried in a book, and god knows which one, Sirius could swear Remus had read every book that was ever written. Peter was staring blankly into space, drool dripping out the side of his mouth.

"Merlin, Wormtail, shut your mouth, are you trying to scare girls away more than often?" Sirius asked him, sitting up straight and running his large hands through his hair. He turned to his side when he remembered someone had been beside him before he had slept – but there was no one there now. For a second Sirius wondered if he had dreamed her, but Remus spoke up before he had the chance to question his sanity any further.

"The girl left a while ago, Sirius, something about getting changed into her robes?" Remus slapped his book shut, the sound causing James to jump up in his seat with a startled groan. "Lily?" He yelped, adjusting his glasses and straightening his Hogwarts tie.

Sirius chuckled at his best friend. "No mate, she's not here. You can quit trying to hide you boner now." He laughed louder, and was joined by Remus when James noticeably covered the front of his pants with his cloak and blushed. "Good dream then?" Sirius winked and stood up, collecting his uniform from a black bag above him.

"Fuck off!" James laughed and punched Sirius in the arm, smoothing down his jumper and making sure his shirt was untucked and not tidy at all. In fact, in general he made sure that his uniform was not tidy. Sirius noticed that both Remus and Peter had their uniforms on too, which meant they must have got changed while Sirius had been sleeping. Hearing the train's whistle sound for the second time, he hurriedly got changed and the four of them squeezed down the train compartments into the fresh, crisp air.

Together, the four of them sauntered along to the carriages and bagged one for themselves, pushing a group of third years out the way and climbing into the carriage without looking back. Sirius grinned, showing a lot of his teeth. He had a feeling this year was going to be fantastic.

Sirius and James led the way to the Great Hall, following masses of students from older and younger years. They sat down in a large empty space on the Gryffindor table, which Sirius noted was directly two people down and opposite from Lily and Lily's friend, Alice. James would have perfect ogling view from here.

"Students!" the rumble of Albus Dumbledore's voice echoed around the brightly lit hall, sending the students into immediate silence, all of them turning to stare at their Headmaster. "Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts. And to our first years – welcome!" Dumbledore surveyed the frightened and anxious looks of the first years in front of him and smiled. "And as usual, before our feast – the sorting will be done. Mr Filch – the hat please!"

The Marauders snickered when the caretaker limped up to the front, clutching a worn old hat and a seemingly as old worn stool. His newly acquired kitten, Mrs Norris, was slinking behind him, hissing at students that got in its way. The first years scattered as Mr Filch approached them, grimacing at those who were slow to react. He set the stool down noisily on the platform, handing the sorting hat to Professor McGonagall, who has risen from her seat when she saw Filch approaching her. Dumbledore returned to his seat, casting his eyes over the tables and stopping to wink at the admiring Sirius. Sirius returned a grin back, but turned back to the sorting when McGonagall cleared her throat.

"Abber, Jordan." And so another year of sorting began. Sirius turned to James and began to tell a dirty muggle joke he had heard from his neighbour during summer, with Peter listening in and Remus talking to another boy in their year. Professor McGonagall rattled off more and more names, getting to more than thirty before she'd even got to "L". The list continued, a few being sent to Hufflepuff, and few to Gryffindor, several to Ravenclaw but rarely any to Slytherin. Not that the other three houses minded. The less Slytherins, the better.

It wasn't Sirius that noticed first, it was Peter. And that would irritate Sirius until the day he died.

"Sirius," Peter whispered across James to him, luring him out of a conversation with Conrad Phillips, the boy sitting on his left. "Sirius, is that the girl we met on the train?"

Sirius' head had whipped round, his longish hair flipping James in the face in his quickness to turn around. Unfortunately, Peter was right, the girl with wavy auburn hair and a face as pale as moonlight was stepping up to the platform and closing the distance between the stool and her. Sirius' eyes were trained on her, wishing that part of the Hogwarts's uniform wasn't the ankle length robes. Elegantly, she swept the robes behind her and placed herself on the stool, her face flushing as she registered the amount of students and teachers watching her.

"She's a bit old to be in a sorting, isn't she?" James whispered in Sirius' ear, but Sirius batted him away, body twitching, desperate to know the answer the sorting hat was going to give. He watched as the sunken hat was lightly put on her head, and watched her face as it lit up and blushed brightly once again as the hat was obviously talking to her. It was only on her head for less than a second, but to Sirius it felt like an hour as he waited for the hat to give the answer he only wanted to hear.

"Gryffindor!" the hat called out, and Sirius' face broke out in a grin that he couldn't contain. Quickly he tried to mask it, but it was too late. Remus had seen. Thankfully, this wasn't as bad as it could have been: James could have seen. And that, would have been so, so, so much worse. At least Remus could keep a secret.

Effy was just taking a seat on the Gryffindor table now, and the rest of the sorting went in a blur. There were only about twenty or so people after her, and Sirius was in no mood to notice them. From where she had taken a seat, Sirius could just see Effy's smile and a section of her hair as she turned to talk to a girl on her right.

Too soon Sirius was drawn out of his staring by the food that was popping up on the gold plates in front of him. But it was OK – Sirius would see her in the common room. He was just lifting his forkful of food to his mouth when he froze – did he actually just think that? Was he actually thinking about a girl he had known for a few hours, and most of these hours he had been asleep. It must be the fact that he's never seen her before; there was never transfers at Hogwarts. He had been with the same girls at school for the fifth year now, so of course a new one would mix him up a bit. That must be it, he thought, that's the only reason.

But he still found himself thinking about her even while dessert was being served and he was munching on a particularly large slice of pumpkin pie. Not soon enough, they were dismissed and being ushered up to the common room, surrounded in swarms of people they had known for years. James and Sirius remained squashed together so they wouldn't lose each other, with Remus and Peter close behind, scurrying up the spiral staircases, trying to get ahead of the first years that had just joined them. They seemed to forget they didn't know the new password though, and had to wait for the head girl to let them in, trying not to look embarrassed and that they had planned this all along.

Lily and Alice were shoved into the portrait hole with them, which James seemed very pleased about, and proceeded to wrap his arm around Lily's neck and whisper into her ear. Lily was blushing, but she declined whatever he was offering, her and Alice both racing up the stairs to their dorms. James sighed.

"I vow." He stated, whipping around to stare at the three boys, "I vow, that one day, whether it is near or very far into the future – I will marry that girl." His face was so serious it made Sirius laugh. "Mate, no offense, but you will never get her. Ever. "

"She hates you with a burning passion." Remus joined in, smiling at the obvious pain there were causing James.

"No, I really think she doesn't hate me as much as she did when we first met!" James insisted, sinking into an armchair a timid second year had recently vacated. Remus sat in the adjoining one and Sirius jumped onto the sofa, spreading his body across the whole length of it. Peter had retired to bed, saying he was 'too tired' to argue any further about Lily. Sirius always thought Peter had a secret thing for her.

"No but really, I swear she doesn't glare at me half as much as what she used to."

"No, she does. You've just gotten used to it."

Remus and Sirius were laughing, James was looking appalled. "No really, I swear she thinks I'm good-looking."

"She can think that and still hate you."

"Can she?"

"Of course she can!"

"Melanie McNeill's pretty fit, but she _is _a Slytherin." Sirius muttered in agreement.

Remus and James nodded, musing their own thoughts. Melanie McNeill was good-looking. She was tall with extremely long tanned legs, obviously fake, because come on, this is England. She had beautifully short blonde hair, which must have been copied from an old style of Kate Moss' by the sheer cat-walk style of it. The Hogwarts uniform defiantly left a lot to the imagination but the boys had seen enough glimpses down her school shirt to guess she was at least a D cup. And they supposed she had a decent face, not that that was what they were looking at. Ever.

"Yeah…" They all sighed in unison, but the portrait hole opened at that specific moment and they all turned their heads in the direction of the creaking picture, hoping against hope it would be Melanie McNeill, but knowing it was absolutely impossible at the same time. They were pleasantly surprised though, because although a striking blonde didn't walk in, a slightly-redhead did, her huge brown eyes smiling and staring around the common room. The head girl, (whose name is Agatha, by the way) was walking sort of behind her, but Effy was walking so fast Agatha stumbled a bit trying to keep up. "And this is the Gryffindor common room. Probably not as fancy as what you're used to, but we have to appeal to boys too…"

"It's beautiful, perfect." Effy said her eyes bright as she looked around. She took in the red and gold tapestries, the soft carpet, the assortment of odd coloured chairs and cushions strewed around the room. The desks were all shoved into one corner by some older students, and they were still hanging around there talking. They were also looking at Effy, and probably talking about her too. Sirius lifted his head and glanced around the room himself, as if trying to see it for the first time again. He didn't remember his first impression, but he hoped Effy could describe it to him. He glanced around the room and saw nothing new, so instead his eyes were drawn to the unusual girl he had met on the train.

"So, you never told me your name?" Agatha was prompting; standing in front of Effy's wandering eyes. But Agatha was very short, and Effy's eyes could see straight over them. She caught Sirius' eyes as he glanced at her, and with a smile she answered in his direction, "Effy."

"Effy? That's an unusual name. I thought you were French? Is that your real name?"

Effy sighed, "Elizabeth Thibault. Call me Effy."

"_Usually, _people with a name like Elizabeth use the name Lizzie, or Liz, or Beth, or Izzie or even sometimes Eliza. Never have I heard Effy! Is that a real name?"

"It's a nickname." Sirius' voice easily slipped out behind Agatha, and he heaved himself up from the sofa to saunter over to where the girls were. Effy's eyes widened then quickly returned to their normal size after a millisecond. She gave Sirius a nod and a small smile whilst Agatha turned round, blushing from her neck to the roots of her mousey brown hair. "Oh! Hello, Sirius!" she turned back round to Effy, "Effy this is-"

"I know. We've met before. This is Sirius." She smiled at Agatha even though it was clear she wished she would leave the two alone. But Sirius got the impression that she was way too nice and sweet to be as upfront and bitchy as other girls he knew.

"Oh, that's nice." Agatha looked between Sirius and Effy and cleared her throat quickly. "I should show Effy where her dorms is. She'll be sharing with Alice and Lily and Brynn, seeing as they have a spare room now…" Agatha trailed off, and Sirius and the others eavesdropping bowed their head for a moment, a look of remorse passing each of their faces. Effy looked confused, but Sirius supposed she'd find out what happened soon enough.

Agatha took Effy by the hand and tried to drag her toward the two sets of staircases. "See you around, Sirius; don't forget to wake up early tomorrow! I know how you like to sleep in late!" with these last and almost stalkerish last words, Effy turned away from Agatha to roll her eyes and smile again before disappearing up the stairs that obviously led to the girl's dorms.

Sirius stood with a smirk on his face before James called him back to reality. "Agatha has got it in for you big time. Do you never think of going after older girls?" James winked to show he was obviously teasing him. Sirius grimaced and plopped himself down in front of the fire, warming his hands, that seemed to break out in a cold sweat just a few moments ago.

"I reckon Sirius has his eye on someone else." Remus hinted, and Sirius thumped him hard on the leg.

"Well, as long as that someone isn't Lily, I'm fine with whoever it is." James paused, "actually, if you go out with Melanie I'll be pretty pissed. Then again, she obviously goes for the more… how should I say? Gorgeous type." He said, gesturing to himself, kicking his legs up on the chair's arm.

"Nah. I would say she preferred the more… stunning type." Sirius joined in, cajoling him.

"Whatever, I'm going to bed." Remus said sleepily, hoistening himself up and stumbling back a bit. "Night, night, don't stay up too late."

"OK, _mother_." James snickered, flapping his arms at him. He looked at Sirius lying down by the fire and his eyebrows furrowed. Sirius usually told him everything; so it must be especially special if Sirius wanted to keep that between himself and Remus. Not that it mattered, James would probably know by the end of tomorrow's lessons.

The two stayed up talking until well after one in the morning, which was James' cue to head to bed. He left Sirius down in the common room, after Sirius had insisted he was still wide awake and wanted to watch the fire die out. So by one thirty in the morning, Sirius was alone in the common room.

Truth be told, he was waiting for Effy to make an appearance. He knew that on his first night at Hogwarts he couldn't sleep and had stayed in the common room all night until the sun came up and he had finally slept for a few hours. He hoped Effy was the same; and would come down to warm herself by the fire, or even better, to see if he was still there.

His eyes started to droop around two o'clock, but he started to wonder if she was going to come down at all. He could try and get to her dorm, he and James had done it before, but to do that you really needed to concentrate otherwise you'd end up sliding down the stairs that speedily became a slide when a boy touched it. And Sirius was in right mind for that. He was tired, happy and extraordinarily anxious all at the same time. Without meaning to, he had fallen asleep, and didn't wake again until Remus shook him awake to say he was going to miss breakfast.

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